Gluten-free olive buns

Bread represents the greatest challenge in the world of gluten free and the pleasure of variety of shapes and flavours is central to the experience. Olive buns are a moment of joy for us because they are one of my son Nicolò’s favourite breads and he loves them so much!

Olive buns are also perfect as a school snack or garden party, but they add a touch of flavour and colour to the bread basket that I love to put on the table whenever possible with as much variety as possible: white bread, dark bread seed bread, cheese bread and so on and so forth!

So, let’s knead!

Olive buns

43.5g carbohydrates per 100 g

Ingredients

  • 370g water
  • 250g pitted green and black olives
  • 220g flour mix for bread, brand Schär B**
  • 150g gluten-free flour, brand Revolution**
  • 150g flour mix for bread, brand Pedon Easyglut**
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 12g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • extra virgin olive oil to brush the surface
  • rice flour* for dusting

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Place water and crumbled yeast in a bowl or food processor and stir for a few seconds to dissolve the yeast. Add all the flours, salt and oil, then knead until you have a homogeneous and firm mixture that can be rolled out with a rolling pin.
  2. Divide the mixture in half and roll out each half with the help of a little rice flour to form a rectangle about 40cm long and 25-30cm wide.
  3. Place the sliced green and black olives, slightly offset from the centre of the rectangle lengthwise. Cover the olives with the dough to form a roll.
  4. Cut the roll into pieces of about 10cm. Place them on a sheet of parchment paper, leaving them far enough apart to allow them to rise. Brush the surface with olive oil and leave to rise for at least 1 hour. Bake in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for 20 minutes.

panini-alle-olive-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Olive buns

Prepare the dough with 500g wheat flour and 250g water.

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The traditional Bishop’s cake in my gluten-free version

Torta del Vescovo (Bishop’s Cake ) is typical of the towns in the province of Parma and the name is intended to recall its importance. Indeed, while the plum jam tart is perhaps one of the classics par excellence, given the popularity of the Plum trees in this area, in the past chocolate was a rather rare ingredient and therefore reserved for special occasion desserts (such as a Valentine’s Day Sacher?).

Well, as the name suggests, this cake used to be prepared when the bishop travelled to provincial towns to celebrate the confirmation of children: in its simplicity, the contrast between jam and chocolate makes it a real treat.

Another cake? Try this with fresh fruit.

Bishop’s cake

48.83g carbohydrates with cake basted with

70g fruit juice, no liquor

Ingredients for the dough

  • 300g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 150g butter
  • 100g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 100g sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 8 g baking powder*
  • a pinch of salt
  • milk

Ingredients for filling and coating

  • 450g plum jam with no added sugar*
  • 150g dark chocolate with no added sugar*
  • 80g fresh cream
  • 20g butter
  • rum and other dessert liqueurs*, water syrup and/or fruit juice

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Prepare the shortcrust pastry in the traditional way, i.e. by mixing all the ingredients until a compact and homogenous dough is obtained. If necessary, add one or two tablespoons of milk to obtain the right texture. Cover the pastry with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for about ten minutes.
  2. With the help of a sheet of parchment paper, roll out a little more than half of the shortcrust pastry to form a disk to cover a baking tin about 26cm in diameter, leaving the edges slightly high so that they can be folded well once the cake is filled.
  3. Stuff the pastry with jam and cover with a second disc, trim the edges if they are too high and fold them inwards using a fork to press them down well so that the jam does not spill out during baking.
  4. Bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 30 minutes or anyway until lightly browned. Let the cake cool completely.
  5. Prepare a syrup with about 70g water and a tablespoon of sugar, or a few drops of sweetener (alternatively use the same amount of fruit juice), add the liqueurs and leave to cool.
  6. With a toothpick, pierce the surface of the cake, then use a brush to wet it well with the syrup-liquor mixture.
  7. Melt the chocolate with the cream on a very gentle heat, or in the microwave, then add the butter, mix well and coat the surface of the cake perfectly.
La torta del vescovo: una crostata con marmellata di prugne ricoperta di cioccolato

Bishop’s cake: a tart with chocolate-covered plum jam

Version with gluten of Bishop’s cake

When preparing the pastry, replace the 300g of gluten-free flour and 100g of rice flour with 400g of standard cake flour.

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Mahalabiya: rose-scented milk pudding

Mahalabiya is a rose-scented milk pudding that I got to know and taste during an unforgettable family trip: a day and a half snatched from work to give the children their first encounter with the magical city of Venice.

Undoubtedly, the enchantment of the place and the joy of spending a few hours of serenity with loved ones on a beautiful sunny day made the culinary experience even tastier. But lunch at the gluten free restaurant Cucina Mediterranea Frary’s in Venice was a real surprise.

The unexpected ingredient in the preparation is rosewater, which we do not normally use in traditional cooking, so much so that the olfactory experience of this pudding is very strong: one has the impression of having a perfume to wear on the table rather than a dish to taste! This is because we are used to finding rosewater in cosmetics, but actually in the Italian culinary tradition we have many recipes in which orange blossom wateris used, such as the very famous Neapolitan ‘Pastiera’.

As soon as I got back, I immediately wanted to try to reproduce this typical North African dessert and, thanks to the help of a Tunisian friend, I created my own version of rose-scented milk pudding, my Mahalabiya, which my fellow travellers promoted with flying colours!

If you want to enjoy a lactose-free pudding with no added sugar instead, try my Peach pudding with coconut and mint with no added sugar.

Mahalabiya, rose-scented milk pudding

31.13g carbohydrates per 100g of pudding without decorations

Ingredients

  • 400g milk
  • 100g sugar
  • 60g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 6g rosewater*
  • grated coconut*, cinnamon powder*, slivered almonds*, raisins, pistachios

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation 

  1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and gradually add the sugar and rice flour, stirring with a whisk so that no lumps form. Finally, add the rose water and put the pan on the heat.
  2. While continuing to stir, bring the cream to the boil. When it starts to thicken, remove it from the heat and pour it immediately into small single-portion glasses.
  3. Let cool and place in the refrigerator.
  4. When serving, sprinkle the surface with a pinch of grated coconut, a little cinnamon, a few almond slivers, a pinch of chopped pistachios and some raisins.

Mahalabiya-dolce-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Mahalabiya, rose-scented milk pudding

The recipe contains only naturally gluten-free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

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